I regularly receive news releases from wildlife agencies around the country and I find the information very valuable for following up on critical issues of our time.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game goes a step further by doing a regular column about hunting and fishing law and how sportsmen can understand that law during typical activities.
This is a common-sense approach that I truly appreciate.
A recent column represents a good example and addresses an excellent question. Ask The Conservation Officer is the title of this regular feature and this particular column starts like this:
Question: A friend and I have argued over an ethical and perhaps legal dilemma. If I kill a big game animal but fail to recover it, does the law require me to “tag-out”? In other words; I am confident my shot was lethal and the animal died but I was not able to find it. Am I required to validate my tag (tag-out)?
The answer provided was a good one and came in two parts. The first deals with the necessity to validate the tag for an animal in possession.
The more important consideration came in part two of their answer.
Excerpt:
The real debate is over that portion of the law that requires a hunter to expend a “reasonable effort” to recover an injured animal.
Read the entire column and give it some thought.
In my not-so-humble opinion, I believe sportsmen have an obligation to conduct ourselves in an honorable, ethical and respectful manner when afield—despite the fact that our society seems to have forgotten the definitions of these words…
